Just follow me, I know the area
by lightkeykid
Summary: Terra, Aqua, and Ventus return to the Million Dreams Festival, and they are determined to make this one more memorable than the last one. When Ventus goes off on his own, his two grown-ups find their own way to enjoy the festival.


For the first time in a decade, the King and Queen announced that they would hold the Million Dreams Festival once more. Upon receiving their invitation, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus immediately packed their bags to attend. They did have lifetime passes after all, thanks to Ven.

Aqua was in no rush to explore the festival. They had all the time in the world to check everything out. Food, music, rides, and all that came with such a festive atmosphere. As the trio strolled down Main Street, she reminisced on the last time she was here and compared it today. The most glaring difference was having her boys by her side. All she remembered from the last time was the hurt she felt from their rift. Still, all of that was in the past now, and it was bright and shining new day with Terra and Ventus.

The latter nudged her in the side. "Why are you so quiet?" He teased. "Are you bored?" Ventus spun around and waved at all of the bright decorations around them.

Aqua laughed. "I'm just amazed at how this place changed over the years," she pointed out.

Ven grinned, snapping photos of all the festival arrangements. "The King and Queen outdid themselves. It looks cooler than the last one."

Terra grinned. "I'm excited to see the new tracks they put into the Royal Raceway. At least "Captain Dark" won't be around to make a ruckus this time. Or was he actually Captain Justice?"

She laughed at the thought of Pete's identity crisis during the last festival. Pete hadn't been seen in a while; apparently last anyone had seen of him, he'd been hanging around Maleficent. Aqua didn't mind his absence. She wanted nothing more than to enjoy this vacation.

"Pete is loony, but he does have a cool hideout," she said.

Terra raised a brow. "What hideout? I explored nearly every inch of town!"

Ven interrupted before she could answer. "Look!" He waved a flyer. "The triplets need a taste tester for their new ice cream flavors! I'm going to check it out, if it's okay with you."

"Aw, do you need permission from your grown ups?" Terra teased with a ruffle of his hair. Scrooge McDuck did Ven no favors when he gave him the kiddie pass; Terra would always hold it over him.

Ven glared at him. "I was only being considerate. We are here together."

Aqua intervened before Terra countered. "We are here to have fun. There's plenty of time for us to spend in the next few days." She waved him away. "Good luck with the ice cream flavors."

He sped away as soon as he got the approval. Terra chuckled. "Off he goes leaving us geezers behind. What are we going to do without him Aqua?" He slung an arm around her shoulders.

"Well," Aqua drew out anticipation with that one word. "We could always see if Pete's hideout is around still." She shrugged his arm off and grabbed his hand. "C'mon, I know the area!"

"Okay, okay!" He followed as she pulled him through the festival toward a manhole. "I still don't see what the big deal is about a hideout."

—

Aqua tried and failed to hold back her smirk when they arrived to their destination. It was still as colorful and loud as it had been a decade ago. The giant pinball mechanism glowed enticingly. _Come! Jump on! It will be fun_, it seemed to say. She wasn't inclined to resist.

Terra whistled. "Okay this is kinda cool." From his mouth, it was high praise. "Does the pinball machine actually work?"

She raised a blue eyebrow at him. "Do you want to try it out?"

"Only if you do."

Aqua accepted the challenge and ran ahead to go up the stairs. He followed closely behind and caught her hand before she jumped onto the spring.

"Wait. Let's do it together." Terra took her other hand as well.

Aqua glanced up at him. His brown eyes gazed down at her solemnly. "Terra, are you alright?" she softly asked.

He took a small step closer, eliminating the space between them. "It's just…We've been apart all these years, and even before, we weren't on the best of terms. And I don't want…" He trailed off, thinking of the right words to say. "Like you said. We're here to have fun. We used to have fun when we were kids, right?"

Aqua thought back to their childhood, long before Ven came to live with them. She spent her days following Terra as he got them into various shenanigans around the Land of Departure. Back then there was no competition of mastery or even Keyblades. Aqua simply adored her time with Terra, and if she was honest with herself, he reciprocated that feeling.

She squeezed his hands tightly. "We truly did. But you know what's great about being grown up?" She asked with a smirk.

He quirked his lip up. "What, Aqua?"

"There's no one to stop us from playing on a life-sized pinball machine all day." Aqua tugged him quickly onto the spring. She jumped; Terra tripped. They had a split second before the spring launched them into the air. In that split second, Aqua saw the biggest smile, a real one, on Terra's face. As they glided through the air, hands clasped tightly together, Aqua couldn't help but return the sentiment.

Later when they found Ven to watch fireworks, Aqua's face was flushed and Terra's hair mussed. If you asked them, they would swear that it was because of the pinball antics. Nothing else transpired that afternoon.

Nothing that Ven could know about his grownups, that is.


End file.
